Soup Dumplings @ Dim Sun Garden

These are the pork shanghai dumplings at Dim Sun Garden on 11rh Street in Philadelphia, These are the soup filled ones that "pop" in your mouth releasing a burst of porky succulence. Soooo delicious!





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Culinary Magic! "Heirloom" recipes from Sandra Lee.... Really?

I'm still trying to recover from watching the cloying Sandra Lee, the host of the most vapid of Food Network TV shows "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee" make what she called an "Heirloom Spring Vegetable Side Dish." For those who don't know, "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee" is a show in which Sandra assembles frozen, packaged and highly processed foods into concoctions which she passes off as being "homemade." It's truly culinary magic! Like magic, it involves a lot of misdirection.

Sandra is always nattering on about how "healthy", "fresh" and "wholesome" her cooking is. Uhhh, yep. In Sandra's case, "homemade" seems to mean you sneak the packaging the processed food came in into the trash when no-one is looking.

In this particular recipe, she de-bags frozen green beans, carrots, corn etc. into a crock pot, slathers it all with canned condensed asparagus soup and a packet of freeze dried leek soup, and cooks this sorry mess for FOUR hours. (Presumably to super-concentrate the sodium, and finish destroying any nutritional content that may have survived the processing.)

Never mind that in a food context "heirloom" is generally used to describe cultivars of fruits, vegetables or animals which date to before industrialized factory farming became prevalent, before foods began to be bred to store for as long as possible rather than taste good. Never mind that this mess cannot even remotely be described as "semi-homemade." (Whatever that means.)

Frozen vegetables cooked for four hours?

Really?

Another Beach Breakfast - Southern Style

Breakfast - August 4th 2009

This breakfast is sort of an homage to my family down South, but updated a bit as well. I substituted the grilled veggies for bacon, sigh. (As much as as I love bacon, into each life some bacon-less days must fall.)

One poached Brewster egg on stone ground yellow grits, with sauteed shrimp and grilled vegetables. The lot of it dusted with cayenne and Parmesan.

- Will

Lobster Omlette

Cape Cod Breakfast, July 31, 2009

A lobster, smoked gouda, and cherry tomato omelet with fresh chives. (Made with fresh Brewster eggs, which taste just like the eggs I remember growing up.)

Local greens with a shallot vinaigrette, and wheat toast with beach plum jelly.

It was really good, except for my not infrequent mistake of overdoing the cheese a bit.

Sole with Lemon Caper Sauce

August 4th, 2009 - Dinner: Sole with Lemon Caper sauce over Spelt cooked with sun dried tomatoes. An Arugula and Cherry Tomato salad with Balsamic vinagarette. Yum!

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First Caprese Salad of Summer

Ahh, the first Caprese Salad of Summer, nuthin better.
The tomatoes aren't ready yet, so I used store bought heirlooms, but the basil is doing great.






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Zen Zoo Tea, Hollywood

I had high hopes for Zen Zoo Tea, on Vine St just north of Sunset Blvd. They serve a wide variety of teas, which are good, as well as Dim Sun. Just recently they added a breakfast menu. Unfortunately, the dim sun is pretty run of the mill, and appears to be commercially packaged frozen. It is somwhat bizzarely served with a bowl of shiracha and hot mustard. It's ok for a quick snack on the way to the Arclight, but if you're looking for real dim sun better to pass by...



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Mother's Day Breakfast

My Mother (and Stepmother) both passed away many years ago. I still like to make a nice breakfast and raise a glass of OJ to remember and thank them.  

This is this year's breakfast: chicken apple sausage from Huntington Meats* in the LA Farmers market, stone ground yellow grits, eggs scrambled with asparagus, and calamata olive sourdough toast.   

________________________

*Huntington Meats is the bomb!  

A truly classic old school butcher shop at the east end of  the LA Farmers Market.  They will cut or prep  whatever you need.   On this past visit Dan told me that they go through 500-600 pounds of their homemade sausage every weekend.  Yow! 

Thai Place, Phoenixville, PA

Back where I come from, part 1 - 

Visiting Eastern PA for a weekend, where I grew up, I was completely shocked to find that Phoenixville PA, has lived up to its name and risen from the culinary ashes.    This town was a drab hole when I was in my teens, whose most significant dining option was a Burger King.  On doing an Urban Spoon search I was shocked to have so many offerings - Tapas in Phoenixville,  you're kidding me? 

I settled on a restaurant somewhat imaginatively named: "Thai Place", and was pleasantly surprised. It has taken 18 years in California to get over my reflexive  mistrust of strip mall dining*, but of course the best places are often buried in strip malls.  "Thai Place" followed that pattern, being tucked into a strip mall with a "Giant" food store and a K-Mart. 

The menu was very extensive, covering all the staples as well as some more outre options.  I had a very good cucumber salad, with ground peanut and a tang of fish sauce, beautifully presented, followed by a red curry shrimp, which was as good as those I get at home in Thai Town in LA. 

Thai Place

700 Nutt Road
Phoenixville Plaza, #730
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
(610) 917-9943        www.eatatthaiplace.com

* I still avoid strip mall dentistry, however.

Pan Roasted Trout w Saffron Lemon Reduction

This is really good!

I like to serve it with a green salad and green beans, or cherry tomatoes sautéed in sweet butter.

Trout in a Saffron-Lemon Reduction.

For the sauce -

2 Cups fish stock
2 Tbsp heavy cream
2 Tsp lemon
1-2 tsp saffron threads
2 tsp fresh or dried Tarragon
Lemon Pepper.

For the trout -

2-4 portions of trout.
1 Tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil.
zest of 1/2 lemon
a few lemon slices, to garnish.

Sauce:

In a flat saucepan add cream to fish stock, whisk well. Place over med-high flame and whisk in 2 Tsp lemon juice as it warms. Bring to a rolling boil and grind in three "turns" of lemon pepper. Reduce till it is about 1/2 Cup, remove from flame and stir in saffron threads and tarragon. (If you are really fussy, you may want to keep it warm over hot water as it rests.)

Trout:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat the bottom of an oven safe skillet or saucepan with olive oil. (no plastic handles.) Place pan over medium heat and warm. Sprinkle lemon zest into pan. When it become fragrant add trout (cut into individual portions) skin side up and sear till about 1/4 inch is opaque. Flip with a spatula and sear the skin side till it is also about 1/4 inch opaque.

Transfer the whole pan into the preheated oven and allow trout to pan roast until done, about 3-7 minutes depending on thickness of trout portions. (Thin ones will be very quick; if it is an inch or so thick it may take 5-7 mins.

Plate the trout over rice pilaf or mashed potatoes*, and drizzle the sauce over each portion. Garnish with lemon slices.

*This may go without saying in civilized homes, but always warm the plates first, as fish cools incredibly fast!

Argentine Sandwich @ Cafe MALBA, Buenos Aires

After an afternoon perusing the collection at Malba ( Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) I stopped into the Museum cafe for lunch.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the Argentine sandwich, grilled asada (beef loin) with a chimichurri sauce, grilled red peppers and onion.

The beef here is generally grass fed on the Pampas, and thus vastly different from the growth hormone and antibiotic laced slabs of fatty tissue we get at home. It is significantly leaner, and much more flavorful.

Observant readers have probably noted how predominant seafood is in this blog; if US beef were all this good that would probably change.

Sadly Argentine farmers are moving to feedlots as they shift Pampas grasslands to soy production and to remain competitive with their beef prices in world food markets. That's a shame, because it seems to me that a healthier and tastier item will always remain competitive, among people who care what they eat anyway.

Off to La Cabrera tonight, for more cow...

Cafe MALBA
Av Figueroa Alcorta 3415
Buenos Aires C1425CLA, Argentina